A Typical Speaker’s Traveling Day

I don’t particularly like to fly.

I’m sitting in my local airport about to take off for San Diego. I will be the keynote speaker at a construction conference tomorrow, talking about social media, marketing, and reputation management. I’ll be paid for my work, travel expenses are covered, and I’ll sell my books to the event coordinator to give to the attendees.

I don’t do this every day (or week for that matter) but it’s becoming more frequent. Most people don’t have any idea of what my work actually looks like so I thought I’d give you more honest views of what I do on an everyday basis. I have a habit of showing you the best stuff, the manicured image. After all, it’s what I’m trained to do.

Tonight I’ll be in my hotel room, enjoying Netflix, room service, and a book. I won’t sleep well because I never do on the road. I’ll get up very early tomorrow morning to work on my speech and put the polish on it. When I take the stage tomorrow at 1pm, I’ll have been working on it and thinking about it for most of the day so I’ll be nice and warmed up to my audience and material.

When I was in college, I lived with a boyfriend who had the early morning shift at work. He’d missed his alarm one too many times so I took it upon myself to make sure that he got out of bed on time every day. I started getting up before him to study with a cup of coffee, warm pjs, and Beethoven (which I’d heard helped in information retention). I’d wake him up when the time came and do homework couple hours before school (I was in the last quarter of a double major – the pressure was on). Those were the easiest grades I ever got in my life. That’s when I learned that I’m my best in the morning.

I write my speeches early and by the time I deliver them, I’ve been working on them and practicing for hours. It feels right and works well. The funny thing is it doesn’t make me nervous cutting it close like that. I’ve trained myself to be able to give my presentations with no electricity or internet. Technology fails us frequently and repeatedly.

I DO get anxious when flying. I was literally raised on private planes so the nerves I get about commercial flying seems odd. I think I don’t like all the factors that can fail. But this is what I wanted, global travel to educate others on technology. I love the adventures and stories. I’m learning to deal with the fears I have when out of my comfort zone. I have to remind myself that I’m a fully capable, adult woman able to kick tons of ass. Sometimes even I feel small.